January 2, 2025

The Himachal Herald

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Jairam lays foundation stone of Shiv Dham at Mandi

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The Himachal Herald, Shimla

Shiv Dham to be constructed at Mandi by spending an amount of over Rs. 150 crore which would be an added attraction for the tourists visiting Mandi district and would provide an unique place for the people of Mandi as well as the country. Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur stated this after laying foundation stone of Shiv Dham Phase-I at Mandi to be developed at Kangnidhar near Mandi. The first Phase of this project would be completed at a cost of Rs. 40 crore. He also laid foundation stone of multi-storey parking near U-Block to be constructed at an estimated cost of about Rs. 100 crore on Public Private Partnership mode.
Jai Ram Thakur said that the credit of this goes to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi who helped the State in getting clearance of Shiv Dham project and 604 other projects hanging in fire for need of forest clearances. He said that the Multi-storey parking would facilitate the people of Mandi town and tourists. He said that a Rs. 27 crore Anaj Mandi (Grain Market) would be constructed in Mandi town as soon as the State gets forest clearances. He said that the Finance Commission has also recommended Rs. 1000 crore for Greenfield Airport Mandi and Rs. 400 crore for expansion of Kangra Airport.
Chief Minister said that the Shiv Dham would be developed in an area of 9.5 hectare at Kangnidhar and would be a major attraction for the tourists visiting Chhoti Kashi Mandi. He said that the Shiv Dham would have replicas of twelve Jyotirlingam, statue of Lord Shiva and Ganesh, Museum, Food Court, Herbal Garden, Nakshatra Vatika, Amphi-theatre, Orientation Centre, Car Parking etc.
Jai Ram Thakur said that developmental projects worth Rs. 300 crore were being executed during last three years in Mandi town. He said that a Rs. 82.18 crore water augmentation scheme for Mandi town would provide better water supply to over 50,000 people of the town. He said that Rs. 21 crore bridge has been dedicated to the people of the town near Victoria bridge. He said that Rs. 40 crore has been spent on beautification of Mandi town with the assistance of Asian Development Bank (ADB). He said that under this project, work has been carried out for beautification of Tarna Temple, development of Aarti Ghats on Beas river, beautification of Indira market etc. He said that a Tourist Culture Centre was nearing completion with an outlay of Rs. 7.50 crore. He said that work on Rs. 68.57 crore sewerage scheme was also underway to facilitate the people of suburbs of Mandi town. He said that Rs. 30 crore Sanskriti Sadan was also coming up at Kangni. He said that all these projects were bound to make Mandi town a major tourist destination of the State.
Chief Minister said that the present State Government has completed three years in office and this was possible due to the active support and cooperation of the people of the State. He said that the new responsibility also brought in new challenges, but with peoples’ cooperation every challenge was converted into opportunity. He said that in the first round of the test, the BJP won all the four seats to Parliament with a record margin. He said that the biggest challenge was the corona pandemic.
Jai Ram Thakur said that the act and conduct of the Leader of Opposition and other MLAs of Congress yesterday in Vidhan Sabha was indeed highly condemnable and against the rich tradition of the culture of the State. He said that this shows that the Congress today was a leaderless, directionless and issueless party. He said that there was a competition between the leaders of Congress to exhibit their supremacy to catch the attention of their Central leaders.
Chief Minister said that decision of the State Government to upgrade Mandi Nagar Parishad to Municipal Corporation was taken after requests were received from various sections of the society. He said that the present State Government decided to make three new Municipal Corporations viz. Mandi, Solan and Palampur to ensure planned development of these towns. He said that all these Municipal Corporations would ensure better basic facilities to the people. He said that no tax would be charged by these municipals corporations for three years. He said that Mukhya Mantri Shahri Guarantee Yojna would ensure guaranteed employment to urban poor on the analogy of MNREGA. He said that the Congress Government during the last fifty years created only one Municipal Corporation at Dharamshala. He said that on the other hand the present State Government not only created three Municipal Corporations but also created 412 new panchayats for better development of respective areas.
Jai Ram Thakur said that efforts would be made for beautification of town for which a Master Plan would be prepared. He said that all the electricity lines would be laid underground and Beas Ghats would be developed to facilitate the devotees. He said that steps would be taken to reallocate Prison from Jail Road to some appropriate place. He said that steps would be taken for effective traffic management. CCTV would be linked with Command Centre at Shimla for making the City crime free, he added.